1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to devices and methods for assisting in providing medical care to a patient. More specifically, the present invention may be used to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation ("CPR") to a patient, and simultaneously assist medical procedures requiring a needle to be inserted into the patient.
Needle stick incidents and the diseases transmitted thereby are not a new phenomenon. Until recently many in the health care community did not fully appreciate the risks of being stuck by a needle. Health care workers face a risk of infection from up to 20 blood-borne diseases, including viral hepatitis and HIV. Needle sticks account for approximately 80% of the hospital exposure to HIV. The danger to health care workers is a critical issue in hospitals world wide.
Blood drawing and vascular access procedures are most often cited by nurses as the activity during which injury occurs. Needle stick injuries in the emergency department occur frequently during the management of critically ill patients when a large number of personnel simultaneously attend to a single patient.
Health care workers are particularly susceptible to being stuck by a needle during the administration of CPR because the patient's arms are not stationary, making use of a needle to draw blood or introduce an IV difficult. The prior art devices fail to provide a stable surface for administering CPR that accommodates the need to use needles on a patient's arms. The present invention offers a means for stabilizing a patient's arm during CPR and thereby provides easier access to the antecubital fossa, the preferred site for vascular access procedures.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In the prior art, there are devices for restraining a patient. One such device is a spinal restraint comprising a rigid board, a plurality of restraining straps, a head support, a foot support, and carrying handles. The restraining straps extend laterally across the board from side portions thereof, the straps being longitudinally removable and laterally retractable. The head support is adapted for immobilizing the head of a patient and comprises a center support for supporting the back of the head of a patient and two side supports, one on each side of the central support, each one for supporting the side of the head of a patient and being movable between a support configuration and a loading and storing configuration in which the side support lies substantially flush with the center support. The foot support is adapted for supporting the feet of a patient and in a support configuration extends from the board, the support being movable to a storage configuration in which the support lies substantially flush with the board. The foot support is mounted on a carriage adapted for engaging a track extending longitudinally of the board, the carriage including a locking mechanism for locking the carriage, the foot support, at selected locations on the board. The handles are adapted for use in carrying the board and are located at the ends of the board, and are movable between a carrying configuration in which the handles extend beyond the ends of the board.
Such prior art devices have disadvantages. For example, they do not provide a support for an arm of the patient that allows easy access to the antecubital fossa. Furthermore, such prior art devices are not well suited for administering CPR because the straps would interfere, and such devices are not easily maneuverable by one person.